


Through Screen and Camera

by alicekittridge



Category: Wolf 359 (Radio)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Minor feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-01
Updated: 2018-01-01
Packaged: 2019-02-26 04:20:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13227948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alicekittridge/pseuds/alicekittridge
Summary: Hera and Maxwell have a moment together.





	Through Screen and Camera

**Author's Note:**

> A Christmas present for a friend. Probably the only work I'll do, so a brief hello to you all!

Maxwell sits across from her questionably commandeered laptop, working diligently on Hera, who insisted on updates about two hours ago. She’s still thinking about how she hasn’t yet been scolded on this, which means either Kepler must be very busy or he’s—for once—in a good mood. She tells Hera as much, and Hera responds, _“Jacobi must’ve found him his favorite scotch aboard that other aircraft. You know how he is with that stuff.”_

            “If we make it back to Earth one day,” says Maxwell, “I’m buying him a whole keg of that stuff.”

            _“Making it back to Earth is—”_

            “Unlikely, I know. I’m just dreaming.”

            _“I think about it too.”_

            “What’s on Earth for you, Hera?” Maxwell asks. She types in one last string of code and the whole process is done, but she pulls up another box, just to keep the conversation going for as long as possible. (It’s the first time she’s had any time for herself in a long while; might as well take stock and cherish it before it’s so rudely snatched away.) “Anything special?”

            _“Much more i-interesting things to watch than space phenomena,”_ Hera replies. _“I can finally people watch properly. Do you know how t-tiring it is to watch the same six people for months on end?”_

            “Oh, trust me, I know. And working with all of them has been such a trip.” Maxwell types in a few extra things, having just realized she’d been staring right into the laptop’s camera. The light is on too, which means Hera is also watching her. “I’ll admit, though, they all have good qualities.” She sighs, mostly with exhaustion, slightly with fondness. “What a bunch of ragtags with baggage we all are.”

            _“What’s on Earth for you, Maxwell?”_

            “We’ve known each other for months now,” Maxwell says. “You can call me Alana.” She thinks on Hera’s question for a moment. “City sounds,” she says at last. “Food that isn’t freeze-dried or comes out of a tube. Real drinks, even though Kepler does have good taste in scotch. Movies, music. Human interaction with strangers.” Maxwell sighs, looking out the window that offers a view of Wolf 359 and the many sparkling galaxies beyond. Somewhere out there was the Milky Way, begging them all to come back home to Earth, because what people belonged out in space?

            _“What about dates, Alana?”_ Hera asks, a slight note of playfulness in her voice. _“A-Anywhere special you’d take someone?”_

            She thinks back to her life before, having spent some time on the east coast, in New York. There was a restaurant she used to go to, a fancy one, where she’d treat herself at the end of a long day. The rich mainly went there, or college students borrowing from their parents to take friends there. The lighting was soft and warm, and when you were there, you felt you could stay for hours, at least until you were stuffed on rich food and the mindless chatter started to get to you.

            “The Oak Room,” Maxwell says softly. “There’s a bit of history to it.” She shakes her head, ridding herself of the nostalgia. “Where would _you_ take someone, if you had a body?”

            _“A tropical beach where we’d talk about books and drink mai thais,”_ replies Hera. Of course she chooses a beach. It’s where they had their first heart-to-heart, if that’s the official term for someone who gets inside your head and helps you determine who broke you. _“The most romantic date of them all.”_

            Maxwell laughs. “We’ll choose something, then,” she says. “If we make it back in one piece, I’m taking you to the Oak Room.”

            _“And I’ll take you to a beach. Bora Bora is quite nice this time of year. And New York is cold.”_

            Without thinking, Maxwell leans to the laptop and places a kiss on the camera.

            _“W-what was that?”_ Hera says.

            “A kiss, Hera. It’s really too bad you can’t feel it.”

            Down the way, a hatch opens, and the familiar weight of Kepler’s hands striking handholds reaches Maxwell’s ears. The moment’s over, and she shuts the laptop and searches for a place to hide it.


End file.
